Can Bonds become another Ali?

Griffin says, "love him or hate him, it's impossible not to respect what Bonds has accomplished in his hall of fame career." Maybe Bonds' likeability will enable him to become a highly paid entertainer when he finally retires. He's
certainly got the name recognizability.

Can Bonds become another Ali?

Jun 12, 2007 04:30 AM
Richard Griffin
thestar.com

SAN FRANCISCO

It's impossible to set foot in AT&T Park without feeling the inescapable presence and aura of Giants star Barry Bonds.

As surely as spanking new Yankee Stadium in 1921 became the House That Ruth Built, because of the Babe's huge influence in rejuvenating a moribund New York franchise, so too could this wonderful, understated jewel, opened in 2000, be labelled Barry's Ballpark by the Bay.

Entering through the AT&T gates into this uniquely Bonds-centric, currently losing but seemingly content baseball environment with all the Barry signage and palpable love for Bonds, you wonder how the rest of the world could be so wrong.
Nevertheless, love him or hate him, it's impossible not to respect what Bonds has accomplished in his hall of fame career, which in his 40s and with single digits to go to catch and pass the legendary Hank Aaron, is winding down very quickly.

"Barry's being pitched very carefully and that's never going to change," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of his slugger, who had hit one homer since May 8 prior to taking the Jays' Josh Towers deep last night for No. 747. "I had to sit him down a couple of games with shin splints. It's a tough game when you're not 100 per cent.

"Last year, they counted him out and he came back strong in the second half. He'll be back. We've gotten over the hump with what's been giving him the problem with his legs. He is almost 43 and it may look like Father Time is catching up, but don't count out the great players."

When Bonds emerged from the dugout yesterday to stretch with his teammates on the lush lawn of foul territory, he seemed the picture of relaxation. While teammates grunted and groaned with stiff, unresponsive muscles, Bonds lay sprawled in the grass, head propped on his hand on one elbow, chatting. Of course, none of those words of wisdom ever reached the media. He was taking this series off from press conferences, resting up perhaps for the hordes of unwashed scribblers in Boston on the weekend.

As hard as it is to actually like Bonds as a human being, it's impossible as a fan of baseball not to be excited by seeing him swing the bat four or five times in person. It will undoubtedly be the same feeling, when he ties and passes Aaron, as it was watching Mark McGwire tie and surpass Roger Maris in 1998.

Therein lies the great divide in American culture and its feelings towards Bonds. There is a hard-to-shake perception that any time Bonds is criticized in the media that it is a racial thing. Bonds is black. McGwire is white. Why was McGwire let off the hook when everyone knows he was a cheater, too? The fact is that if McGwire was accomplishing his home run feat in this current environment of public awareness of performance enhancers gone wild, he would be feeling similar heat.

One thing that should never be done is any odious comparison, citing the '95 reaction of the African-American community to the O.J. Simpson acquittal linking it to the Bonds chase of first Ruth, now Aaron. Nobody will die in this chase, this case.

As for the seeming finality of Bonds' negative image with the majority of Americans, take heart. There have been other dramatic turnarounds in the history of sports. Muhammad Ali, when he joined the Nation of Islam and was stripped of his title for refusing to serve in Vietnam in early 1966, was the most hated athlete in America, considered a loud-mouthed bully, a draft dodger and traitor. Now he is perhaps the most beloved figure in American sports on both sides of the racial divide.

"As hard as it is to actually like Bonds as a human being, it's impossible as a fan of baseball not to be excited by seeing him swing the bat four or five times in person. It will undoubtedly be the same feeling, when he ties and passes Aaron, as it was watching Mark McGwire tie and surpass Roger Maris in 1998."

Uh...I call B.S. on this. Impossible as a fan of baseball NOT to be excited seeing him swing? It is possible. It happens quite often. Maybe not in San Fran, but it certainly happens.

And it will NOT, for quite a few baseball fans, NOT be the same feeling as seeing McGwire break the Maris record.

Barry Bonds is NO Muhammad Ali. When Ali went against the war, it was him against the world. It wasn't until the war ended and his healt deteriorated, that people began to see that he was right.
Bond is against anyone who doesn't agree with him. As far as I know, the only platform he's using is that people are against him because he's black. While that may be true, he's got other issues that has people talking.

The only person in sports today who has a chance to become Ali-like is LeBron James.

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What is Ali-like? If you mean does he have the power to transcend sports? Look no further than Tiger Woods. Hell, Michael Jordan is still very marketable and he;s been out of the game for a while.
James has a long, long way to go before EVERYONE is talking about him.

I like Barry but Ali had far more personality and an instinctive nature to use his considerable platform. Bonds wants to hit baseballs, make money, and look after his interests and projects, of which many are charitable. Ali has always played the media game, Bonds doesn't.

The media in general has such a level of disdain and contempt for Bonds, much more so than the general public's perception of him. And sure, Barry has no doubt done his part to cultivate this. But, unless he becomes a major PR maven post-retirement, he'll never be recognized to the level his accomplishments deserve, much less to iconic Ali or Jordan status.